Page 43 of Blood Moon
When we came to a stop sign, he examined me with a scowl. “What happened to your lip? You okay?”
I set my drink down and flipped the mirror above me. The small bruise wasn’t that noticeable, but Bobby—whose entire life had been dedicated to investigating—would notice.Of course,he would.
I let out a breath, flipped the mirror back. “It’s no big deal. I tripped when I went running the other day.” Which was true by a stretch, but also not the truth at all. It had been over a week since I’d gone on that hike. And I didn’t trip … I fell from a cliff. Still, I heard the screams. They never left me. In stillness, they found me. In darkness, those red eyes appeared. My face tensed thinking of it.
Bobby clenched his jaw as we headed east, toward the main road. It wasn’t until we got to the first light that I saw his glare. “Where have you been running?”
I grabbed my cup again, bracing myself as I took another sip. “Just around campus, nowhere else.”
“It might be best to take a pause from that. I don’t know if you’ve been keeping up with the news, but there was a bear attack. Someone died.”And so did someone else.
But I didn’t need to watch any more reports when I’d already experienced it. It wasn’t quite the same as I’d seen in Bobby’s investigation. There, he’d filed Rena as involved somehow—a discovery I was still unsettled by. There, he’d tracked cycles of the moon and photographic evidence of attacks that didn’t seem to come from a bear.
I probed, only to see what I could pull. “But a bear? In Kansas? It just seems weird.”
“It happens from time to time. Cubs get lost wandering, and their mothers go looking for them. It’s unusual, but it happens. Just promise me you’ll stay out of the woods until we get this under control. I can’t—” He cleared his throat. “I don’t want anything to happen to you.”
“But why is your department handling this? Shouldn’t it be the parks? Or wherever they saw the thing?”
“That’s just it, Bug. We aren’t certain it was a … a bear. Everything is still under investigation.”
Exactly. Not for a single second had I thought Bobby believed it was a bear. What else was he withholding? “What do you think happened?”
He kept his eyes on the road as we merged onto the highway. “It’s hard to say.”
“You don’t have any leads?” I pressed, my fingers feeling tight as agitation simmered within. I wanted honesty. I needed that from someone.
“Of course, we do.” He scratched the side of his head harder than usual; a few flakes dusted the air. “She … the victim is still pretty shaken up from the attack.”
“And she thinks it was …a bear?” I said again, determined.
“We don’t know for certain.”
“Could it have been a wolf? Those are far more common here,” I said, toying with the idea. He’d been tracking the phases of the moon like he believed the stories from town.
“It was much larger than a wolf,” he said curtly.
“I’m just say—”
Bobby whipped his head to look at me, his eyes wild. “Just please. Stay out of the woods.”
I flinched, turned away from him. “Fine,” I mumbled. “I’ll stay out of the woods.”
He nodded and flipped on the radio. We were silent the rest of the drive.
When we pulled into the driveway, I could tell he’d recently mowed the grass. The odd part was how bad it looked. The sides still grew over the sidewalk and steps. Lumps of wet cut grass lay pitifully around the yard. It was alarming, not up to his standards at all. Worse, it was clear he’d only done it in anticipation of my arrival.
I followed Bobby inside, riding his heels. I needed to know if his findings were still tacked to the wall. However, one glance confirmed they were gone, perhaps hidden in his room.
Still, the house was in shambles. Various papers covered tables and chairs. A basket of laundry sat in front of the basement door. A smell of something unpleasant wafted through the air, as if he’d only recently taken the trash out.
Fear held me between its grim arms, pressed in on my ribs. Bobby had made no adequate attempts to hide this mess. A sign he was in deep. A reminder it was already too late.
My lips trembled as I stepped over a throw pillow. “What is all of this?”
“Work,” he said, but he answered it too quickly, not to my liking. “It’s, uh, it’s kind of taking over at the moment.” He averted his gaze, knowing if he looked at me, he’d have to face this disaster.
“Andthis …it’s all about the bear?”
